A Ranger's Tale
by Maxtherouge
Summary: An annoying sidekick. A dangerous new Team. An old enemy. All of Val's skill, luck, and determination will be put to the test as he saves the region from the brink of disaster.
1. Chapter 1

Val stoked the small fire at his camp. It was going out, but it didn't matter. Daylight would be here in a few hours. Val called out Braixen and Lucario. They look at him sleepily.

"Braaaii?" Braixen yawned and stretched. Lucario charged up a bit of an Aura Sphere and shot it at Braixen. Braixen retaliated by Psychicing an ember out of the fire and throwing it at Lucario.

"Hey you two, calm down." Val pushed Braixen's stick down and glanced at the both of them. The two pokemon shuffled their feet and looked down. Val called out his last partner. Zoroark was in the middle of practicing, and didn't stop when called out.

"Zor. Ark. Zoro." He Fury Swiped the piece of wood repeatedly, keeping it in the air. Finally, Zoroark split the piece in half. He stopped, taking a deep breath.

"Zoroark?" He glanced over at me.

"I got a call saying that Darren is passing through here. This might be one of our only shots at doing this, and I don't want to leave it up to luck next time." Val picked up his pack from where it was lying on the ground and put it on.

"He'll be passing through the route soon, so we need to be ready."

"Brai."

"Car."

Zoroark frowned.

"Zoro, ark zor?" He shook his head at Val.

"I don't think he knows we're waiting for him. It'd be hard to set up a trap for us." Val put on his signature bracelets and started moving into the trees. Lucario put out the fire, then all three pokemon hurried after their trainer.

Nyx's breath clouded in front of her. She watched her former associate walk down the path leading out of the forest onto the road.

"Why'd you make me have to go and do this?" She whispered, the words disappearing with her breath. She motioned her rifle into position. While it may not have been deadly, the tranq shots from it would knock out anyone for a day flat. Val wasn't anyone though. As one of the forefront Rangers in the region, he was required to be immune to certain types of poison, among other things. The blend she was using wouldn't knock him out for particularly long, but it would do the job.

Val felt something enter his neck, and watched his pokemon drop one by one as his vision faded to black.

...

Val felt someone pounding his skull. Wait, no, that was just a headache. He opened his eyes slowly and found himself next to a fire.

"You finally awake?" A melodic voice chimed out from somewhere to his left.

He didn't react immediately, instead mentally checking for any injuries he might have had.

Finally, he raised himself up on one arm. A girl was feeding a Talonflame on her shoulder some berries.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Val sat up, stretching to make sure he was ready for a fight with this girl.

"Your new partner." The girl held out her hand with a slight smile.

"No." Val stood all the way up and continued stretching.

"Mmm hmm. Well, technically, you're my mentor, but I'm sure I'll end up better than you." She casually remarked.

If there was one thing Val couldn't stand, it was unnecessary chatter.

"Oh, VERY skilled." The girl sang, as Val finished off his routine with some acrobatics. Finally, he snapped.

Rushing straight at the girl, he grabbed her wrist. She tried to chop at it, but he caught her other wrist also. Flipping her over his shoulder, he suspended her a centimeter away from the fire.

"Yes, I am. Thank you for noticing." Val said, watching her hair singe.

"Alright, alright, alright. Lemme go!" The girl tried to squirm out of his grasp, but there was nowhere to squirm to in such close proximity to the fire.

Val let go and turned away, but was floored by a kick from the girl. He sprang up with a flip, ending up facing her. She was in an offensive stance, so he assumed a somewhat defensive one. All of his fighting methods were unorthodox, so she hesitated a second before attacking. That was all he needed.

As the girl gave out a small battle cry and rushed forward, Val swayed to the left. The girl tripped over his foot, crashing to the ground. Val smiled. Sometimes the simplest tricks were the most effective. He fell on her, driving his knee into her back.

"Owowowow, stooooop." She whined. Val waited a second before giving up. The girl brushed herself off, then extended a hand to Val.

"Lily." Val frowned.

"I feel like I've heard that before" He asked, shaking her hand.

"Huh? Well, that's my name!" She gave out a small giggle.

"Oh. Well, I suppose you can know mine now. It's Valentine." Val sat down next to the fire.

"I'm just gonna call you Val!" She smiled, sitting down next to him. He took the pokeball that Lily handed to him.

"Zooorrrr." Zoroark glanced between his trainer and the unfamiliar girl sitting beside him. He nudged Val.

"Push off." Val smiled and shook his head.

"What?" Lily asked, as her Talonflame landed on her shoulder.

"Oh, nothing." Val recalled Zoroark, and kicked out the fire.

"HEY! I worked hard on that!" Lily frowned and crossed her arms.

"I don't believe you or care." Val picked up his bag and walked towards the edge of the clearing.

"Why?" Lily got up and followed him.

"I don't care because we're heading back to base. I don't believe you because you have a fire pokemon on your shoulder."

"Well aren't you a pleasant one." Lily remarked, scratching her Talonflame under the chin.

"I missed an opportunity to nab the most dangerous Pokemon smuggler in the region. I don't know how they were expecting me, or how they managed to tranq me, but they did. I'm not happy about it either." Val closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I find it extremely frustrating, and your demeanor and voice aren't helping. I'm hungry, have what feels like a hangover, and have been out here for almost three weeks. Now, on top of all that, I have to take care of you."

"You don't need to take care of me! I'm only a year under you!" Lily shoved Val to the side, into a tree.

"And yet, you have the personality and mindset of a ten year old." Val brushed himself off and continued walking.

"I was admitted a year early." Lily skipped ahead. "And you're just eighteen, so we've been in the same time."

"I was tested at thirteen, admitted at fourteen, and became head at sixteen."

"They didn't tell me that…" Lily got quiet.

"Next time, try thinking the things you say through." Val pushed through the underbrush towards the route, preparing himself mentally for the week-long trek to the ranger headquarters.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys, Chapter 2 is here. Yeah…So…. Uhhhh. Whatever. Enjoy.

Val pushed the hair out of his eyes and sighed. Traveling with this girl was a bigger tax on his mental health than he expected. He rolled his eyes and tried not to smack the girl across the face.

"Can you be a bit more careful?" A clump of sand hit him in the face once again as Lily turned to face him.

"What?" She walked over from where she was training and leaned over. "Are you afraid I'm going to show I'm better than you?"

"No, you're hitting me in the face with dirt when you spin around."

"Oh boo hoo. Suck it up." Lily stuck her tongue out and turned on her heel.

"Look, can you just do it a bit away from me?" Val brushed himself off and stood up.

"I'll move away if you beat me in a Pokémon battle!" She pulled out a poke ball and sent out a Weavile.

"Fine." Val pulled out a poke ball and sent out Braixen.

"BRAAIII!" It had been a long time since Val had been in a Pokémon battle, and was ready to refresh his skills on the battlefield.

"Weavile, use Ice Beam!" Lily called out, thrusting her arm forward.

"Melt it with a Fire Spin!" Braixen's stick caught fire and blasted curling flames towards Weavile, just as his Ice Beam was launched at Braixen. The two attacks collided in the middle of the field, exploding into curls of steam and ice shards.

"Now Weavile, Fury Swipes!" Weavile charged through the cloud of steam, only to be stopped by Braixen Psybeaming him up in the face

"Wea?" He thrashed around, confused.

"Braaaiii!" Braixen stuck her tongue out as Weavile pulled himself out of his confusion.

"Wea!" Weavile tried a Fury Swipes again, just to be caught by Fire Spin's vortex.

"Wea…" Lily's Weavile fell, fainted.

"Nice job Braixen, that was over quick." Val recalled his Pokémon, and clipped it to his bracelets.

"So you're pretty strong. Go, Snorlax!"

"Snooor." Snorlax landed heavily, causing a mini earthquake.

Val had never seen such a big one. He didn't know if any of his Pokémon were strong enough to take on a Snorlax. Val was sure Lily wasn't a slouch on training it either.

"Go, Lucario!" Lucario came out, assuming a pose, then getting into a stance once her realized the size of the enemy he was facing.

"Snorlax, Defense Curl!" Snorlax curled into a ball, and then released it as his fur shimmered red.

"Lucario, Brick Break!"

"Car, Car, CAR" Lucario slammed his hand into Snorlax's soft body repeatedly, without any effect.

"Snor." Snorlax smiled down at Lucario.

"Defense Curl again!" Snorlax curled into a ball again, even tighter this time.

"Lucario, Extreme Speed!" Lucario dashed next to Snorlax and hit him before he could fully roll up. Snorlax's fur still shimmered red, however.

"One more Defense Curl, Snorlax!" Snorlax curled into the same ball, his fur shimmering red before wavering and giving out. "That's it!" Lily pumped her fist as Snorlax's defense maxed out.

Val knew he was in a bad spot. Lucario's attacks wouldn't be able to penetrate his thick skin with his defense boosted so high, and Braixen wouldn't be able to take more than a few hits from a Snorlax.

"Lucario, Aura Sphere!" Val smirked as the ball of concentrated energy crashed into Snorlax, causing a little explosion. He gasped when the smoke cleared to show Snorlax just standing there, still smiling.

"Rollout." Snorlax moved with such sudden speed that neither Pokémon nor trainer were prepared for the attack. Snorlax crashed into Lucario, barely leaving him standing.

"Lucario, you still ready to fight?" Lucario nodded and took a deep breath. He wasn't gonna let his friend down in a battle like this. "Great, another Aura Sphere!" The move crashed into Snorlax once again, still leaving no noticeable effects.

"How is Snorlax so strong?" Val grimaced as Snorlax rolled into Lucario. The Pokémon flew back into his trainer by the force of the attack. Lucario slowly lifted himself off the ground and turned to face his gigantic foe once more.

"Lu…" Lucario staggered forward, dropping to one knee as the fatigue hit him in a wave.

"Let's finish this! Rollout, one more time!" Snorlax Curled up into a ball and started towards Lucario.

"Lucario, Extreme Speed into the air!" Lucario dashed directly up, getting well out of range of Snorlax's Rollout. "Now, Aura Sphere!" The ball blasted right into where Snorlax was uncurling.

"Snoooooor!" Snorlax's face turned to a frown, and turned to face Lucario.

"Snorlax, Amnesia!" But Snorlax rolled into a ball once again. "Huh?" Lily frowned

"Rollout last for five turns. You have three left!" Val called out triumphantly. "Same thing Lucario!"

As Snorlax rolled under Lucario, he charged a much more powerful Aura Sphere and lobbed it at Snorlax. Snorlax uncurled right as it hit him.

"Snoor! Snooo.." Suddenly, Snorlax fell on his stomach.

"Yes! Nice job Lucario!" Val called back Lucario and clipped it to his bracelet. "We'll get you healed up as soon as we get back to base."

"I doubt even all three of your Pokémon could defeat my Talonflame." Talonflame cawed as he rose into the skies.

"And I doubt all three of your Pokémon could beat Zoroark." Zoroark Stretched, the flashed a smile back at Val. He was excited to be battling again.

"Talonflame, start off with a Razor Wind!" Sharp blades of air assaulted Zoroark, but he didn't look concerned.

"Zoroark, Fury Swipe them away." He slashed at each blade of wind, and they ricocheted away into the ground.

"Follow up with Brave Bird!" As the last blade hit Zoroark, so did Talonflame. Zoroark was launched backwards by the force of the blow, but Zoroark landed on his feet, ready for his next attack.

"Shadow Claw, Zoroark!" Zoroark sprang up right as Talonflame was trying to get some air, and batted him back down with his glowing black claws.

"ZOR!" Talonflame hit the ground hard, and Zoroark landed right on top of him, pummeling him with his claws.

"Talonflame, Flame Charge!" Waves of fire engulfed Talonflame as Zoroark leaped off him. He soared high into the sky, then looped around to speed towards Zoroark.

"Shadow Ball, now!" Zoroark put his hands together, and a chill ran across the battlefield. Suddenly, a dark, translucent sphere appeared there, and he hurled it at the incoming Talonflame. As it collided with the burning Talonflame, it glowed a brilliant red, then exploded. Talonflame rammed full speed into Zoroark, sending him back a few feet.

"You alright Zoroark?" Val called out. Zoroark nodded, but there were a few embers in his fur. He winced as he took burn damage. He flashed an O.K. sign.

"Talonflame, Brave Bird!" Talonflame soared out of sight, becoming a little speck in the sky. Zoroark tensed himself, waiting for the hit.

"Zoroark, dodge!" Talonflame dive-bombed, but plowed into the ground as Zoroark dove to the side. Talonflame hopped up onto his feet, but by the he had been Fury Swiped by Zoroark. He was pummeled repeatedly, unable to get any air. Finally, Zoroark stopped his merciless assault, and Talonflame dropped to the ground, fainted.

"Wow. You are pretty powerful" Suddenly, clapping and cheering burst from the trees. Both opponents were so focused on the battle, that neither of them had noticed the sizable crowd that had gathered at the clearing's edge.

"That is how Pokémon battles were truly meant to happen!" The director stepped out of the crowd, clapping. Her almost white hair shone in the sunlight, and she shook Val's hand.

"The winner of this battle is Val!" She smiled warmly to the young Ranger. "Now both of you come inside. We have your first mission together."

Well, there's the first battle. I figured I'd make a place where you guys can talk to me about writing. While this is my first on this website, I have written many other stories, and figured I'd get some feedback on them.

/rqYSK57

You'll need to make a discord account if you've never been on the site before, so just letting you know. Imma be honest, not happy with how the first chapter turned out. Hopefully I can step it up.


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